SPORTS DECEMBER 2017

SPORTS DECEMBER 2017

• Kidambi Srikanth, Mithali Raj and PV Sindhu bagged awards at Indian Sports Honours in Mumbai
  Ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, who won four Super Series titles this year, bagged the Sportsman of the Year award at the inaugural edition of Indian Sports Honours held in Mumbai. Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu was the Sportswoman of the Year award in the individual sport category.
  
  Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest bowler to reach 'Club 300' in Test cricket was awarded Sportsman of the Year award while women's cricket team skipper Mithali Raj was awarded Sportswoman of the Year award in the Team Sport category.
  
  The Indian Women's Cricket Team, which ended as runners-up in the ICC Women's World Cup, were named as the Team of the Year.
  
  While star tennis player Sania Mirza was awarded the Inspirational Honour by the jury, country's first Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was honoured with the Transformational Contribution to Sport award. Indian Sports Honours is an initiative partnered by India skipper Virat Kohli and Sanjiv Goenka, in line with their vision to support the development of Indian sports.
• International Olympic Committee bans five more Russians for life over Sochi doping
  Five more Russian competitors from the 2014 Sochi Olympics were banned for life over anti-doping rule violations. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a press statement on 27th November that the banned athletes include Dmitrii Trunenkov and Aleksei Negodailo, both in the gold-medal winning four-man bobsleigh team, plus biathlon relay silver medalists Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina, who also won silver in the 7.5 kilometers event. Sergei Chudinov, who came fifth in the men's individual skeleton, was also disqualified for doping breaches.
  
  It said the five athletes punished were also banned from competing at any future Winter Olympics. The IOC's announcement comes following hearings by an IOC commission into allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia at the 2014 Games, hosted by Russia. The IOC has punished 19 Russian Olympians so far on the recommendation of the commission. The latest sanctions come just a week before a crucial IOC meeting on 5th to 7th of next month to decide whether Russia can compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
• Competition Commission imposes Rs 52-crore penalty on BCCI
  Competition Commission of India CCI, on 29th November imposed a fine of over 52 crore rupees on BCCI, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, for anti-competitive practices with respect to IPL media rights. In its 44-page order, the CCI has found the cricket body to be in contravention of competition norms for its assurance to the broadcasters of Indian Premier League.
  
  The BCCI had assured the broadcasters that it will not organize or support another professional domestic Indian T20 competition that is competitive to IPL for a period of ten years.
  
  After a detailed investigation, CCI found that BCCI enjoys a dominant position in the market for the organisation of professional domestic cricket league events in India and described the board as an enterprise in view of its nature of activities. CCI held that the impugned restriction with regard to media rights had no nexus to the legitimate interest of cricket in the country and it was pursued to enhance the commercial interest of the bidders of IPL broadcasting rights.
  
  The CCI also directed the BCCI to desist from indulging into the conduct which contravenes competition norms. It has also ordered the BCCI not to place blanket restriction on the organization of professional domestic cricket league and events by non-members. This will, however, not preclude BCCI from stipulating conditions for approval or granting specific approvals that are necessary to serve the interest of the sport.
• IOA formally recognises Boxing Federation of India
  The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) was on 29th November recognised as a national body by the Indian Olympic Association, which removed the terminated Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) as its affiliate after months of indecision.
  
  The BFI, already recognised by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and the Sports Ministry, finally got the IOA's nod, which had IABF registered as the official body till now. The IOA's decision is expected to end the IABF's attempts at reviving itself.
  
  The body, which was first suspended and then terminated by AIBA for manipulation in elections, has been trying to keep itself afloat by organising a couple of meetings with its former members in the past few months. The Sports Ministry had earlier barred IABF from representing India as it was no longer a national federation.
• Ravichandran Ashwin breaks Dennis Lillee's record of fastest 300 Test wickets
  India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest bowler to reach the milestone of 300 Test wickets on 29th November in his 54th match, breaking Dennis Lillee’s record during India's win over Sri Lanka in the second Test.
  
  Australian fast bowling legend Lillee had reached the milestone in 56 Test matches way back in 1981 and it took 36 years for another bowler to eclipse the record. Ashwin is only the fifth Indian bowler to complete a career 300 wickets in Test cricket behind Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Zaheer Khan (311).
• Kohli Becomes Fourth Fastest Indian to Reach 5,000 Test Runs
  On 2nd December, during the third Test between India and Sri Lanka, Kohli reached the mark of 5,000 runs in Test cricket. He is the 11th Indian to cross the mark. Kohli also managed to cross the barrier of 16,000 international runs, across all formats.
  
  Kohli is the fourth quickest Indian to reach the 5,000 club. The ones reaching the mark before him are Sunil Gavaskar (95 innings), Virender Sehwag (98 innings), Sachin Tendulkar (103 innings), while Kohli reached there in 105 innings, before Rahul Dravid (108 innings).
• Mirabai Chanu wins gold medal at World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA
  Mirabai Chanu on 30th November became the first Indian in over two decades to claim a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA. Chanu lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the women's 48kg, in the process setting a new national record.
  
  Olympic bronze medalist Karnam Malleshwari had won the top prize in worlds twice - in 1994 and 1995. Some of the world's top weightlifting nations such as Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Azerbaijan could not take part in the competition due to issues related to doping.
  
  President Ram Nath Kovind has congratulated Mirabai Chanu for winning a gold medal in the World Weightlifting Championship.
• Odisha CM unveils logo and mascot of Hockey World Cup 2018
  Logo and mascot of Hockey World Cup 2018 have been unveiled at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
  
  As many as 16 countries, including hosts India, will participate in the 14th edition of the Hockey World Cup. The Chief Minister also launched the countdown timer for the international event scheduled to be held in Bhubaneshwar late next year.